Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!telecom-request From: whs70@taichi.bellcore.com (W. H. Sohl) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Cable TV vs Telco Connectivity Laws Message-ID: Date: 30 Mar 91 05:26:02 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Reply-To: W. H. Sohl Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Lines: 60 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 253, Message 4 of 10 In article RAF@cu.nih.gov (Roger Fajman) writes: > Well, our cable system here charges by the TV too. Trouble with this > argument is that, while we have more than two TVs, there are only two > of us living in the house (not counting the cats, who don't watch much > TV at all :-). Since the TVs are in different rooms, it is quite > impossible for us to watch more than two at a time, but we are billed > for all. > We have only one converter box, as all the TVs but one are cable ready > and we have no premium channels (so no unscrambling is necessary). > Under those conditions, the converter boxes just get in the way (and > they charge for remote controls for them too -- even if you supply > your own programmable unit). > The cable company just announced that the basic service is being > divided into three tiers. Initially, the total for all three tiers is > the same as before, but I'm sure the price increases won't be long in > coming (there have already been two in one year). Of course, many of > the channels we like (old movies, CNN) are in the upper tiers. The > lowest tier gets you primarily the local broadcast stations and the > community service stations. While pricing for all three tiers is NOW the same as the basic package was before, IF they break out the pricing and you then need to subscribe to each tier separately, you can bet that that will lead to the scambling of the channels in tiers two and three. Once that is done, you are then forced to use a cable company converter box for each separate TV to descramble tiers two and three. If that happens, the remote control functionality of your existing cable ready TV sets becomes useless for those channels that are scrambled, thus forcing you to opt for the cable company's remote control features at additional cost. > I've never understood the logic of granting an exclusive franchise and > deregulating prices at the same time. Of course, we don't have to > have cable TV, but that's no reason for allowing a monopoly without > price controls. It seems to me that competition should have been the > quid pro quo for deregulating prices. Here in NJ, the cable company is granted a franchise, but that is not an exclusive monopoly franchise. The economic reality, however, is that no other cable company is likely to want to expend the capital costs associated with cableing an already cabled area on a competitive basis. The deregulation of cable as I recall was done by federal action, so I don't know what, if any, local concerns were addressed during the discussion of the legislation before it became law. These are my personnel viewpoints, and not my employer's. Bill Sohl || email Bellcore, Morristown, NJ || UUCP bcr!taichi!whs70 (Bell Communications Research) || or 201-829-2879 Weekdays || Internet whs70@taichi.cc.bellcore.com